Passive House Principles Simply Explained:
Paul Mulhern
With Dun Laoghaire Rathdown and Dublin City Councils set to make Passive House standards mandatory for new buildings in their forthcoming Development Plans -
“The time has come in Ireland for passive house standards to move from the margins to the mainstream, for building policy and its energy efficiency to become more active by becoming more passive... " - Pat Cox
Passive House or "Passivhaus" buildings provide a high level of occupant comfort while using very little energy for heating and cooling. They are built with meticulous attention to detail and rigorous design and construction according to principles developed by the Passivhaus Institute in Germany, and can be certified through an exacting quality assurance process.
The new-build Passivhaus Standard requires:
- a maximum space heating and cooling demand of less than 15 kWh/m2.year or a maximum heating and cooling load of 10W/m2
- a maximum total primary energy demand of 120 kWh/m2/year
- an air change rate of no more than 0.6 air changes per hour @ 50 Pa
The Passivhaus refurbishment standard, EnerPHit, requires:
- a maximum space heating and cooling demand of less than 25 kWh/m2.year or a maximum heating and cooling load of 10W/m2
- a maximum total primary energy demand of 120 kWh/m2/year + heat load factor
- an air change rate of no more than 1.0 air changes per hour @ 50 Pa
To achieve the Passivhaus Standard in the Ireland typically involves:
- very high levels of insulation
- extremely high performance windows with insulated frames
- airtight building fabric
- ‘thermal bridge free’ construction
- a mechanical ventilation system with highly efficient heat recovery
Just bear in mind though:
"It is far more difficult to be simple than to be complicated; far more difficult to sacrifice skill and easy execution in the proper place, than to expand both indiscriminately". John Ruskin.
Passive House Ireland - Facebook
Talk to Hofler Architects about your project: Contact Us